Every so often, a crazy fringe candidate comes along that seems so far down the rabbit hole that you assume they must be joking. From Sue "Chickens for Healthcare" Lowden to Sharron "Make Rape Lemons into Lemonade" Angle, there will always be crazy candidates that say crazy things.

Although it is never enforced in such a way, just having restrictive laws like that send a message to families that they are not welcome. There is also always the danger of having someone using and abusing such antiquated laws if they do not like gay people and their families.

John Labriola, born-again Christian Democratic candidate for Florida House District 94, will join a planned pro-family rally and protest in front of Oakland Park City Hall, 3650 NE 12th Ave., on Wednesday, July 21 at 6 p.m. just before the city commission meeting.

Labriola and local concerned residents will call on Oakland Park officials to stop their unwise efforts to redefine the family to suit the radical homosexual agenda. The community is encouraged to make a stand for family values by attending Wednesday night's rally.

City Commissioner Suzanne Boisvenue recently instructed city staffers to change the city zoning law's definition of family to include homosexual and lesbian couples. She asked staffers to present their proposal to the commission in September for a vote.

"Jesus defined marriage as the lifelong union between a man and a woman," said Labriola, a marketing specialist and former journalist. "Oakland Park city commissioners have no business trying to alter what God has ordained, and I pray that they will reconsider this move. We must love our neighbor, but we must never sanction immorality. This rally is about love."

Labriola, a former liberal Democratic activist, was kicked off the Broward Democratic Party Executive Committee in 2008 after reluctantly dropping his once-enthusiastic support for the Democratic ticket when he discovered the error of his ways and began a months-long journey toward salvation and pro-life, pro-family Christian values.

"The liberal secularists who unfortunately control the Democratic Party from Washington to Tallahassee to Broward don't reflect the average God-fearing Democratic voter," Labriola said. "As a born-again Christian Democrat, I will be a voice in Tallahassee for restoring our Judeo-Christian heritage by preserving traditional marriage, protecting the unborn, allowing prayer back in the schools and exposing 'political correctness' as anti-Christian bigotry and censorship."

"We must get our moral house in order before we can hope to fix our economy, because turning our backs on God as a nation is what led to our economic and social decline in the first place," he added. "We have sinned and we are all to blame for the mess we've gotten into, and we must repent and get right with God again."

For more information about Labriola's campaign, visit RestoreChristianAmerica.com

That is a lot of extremism packed into one press release!

Labriola's views are pretty clear in this press release: worship his god, hate who he hates, and the world will be saved. That's some political platform.

I especially enjoy the obligatory "it's all about love" statement:

We must love our neighbor, but we must never sanction immorality. This rally is about love.

Yes, because allowing families to live in peace is highly immoral. And it's so loving to want to split them up or support policies that could be used to harass and intimidate them.

The only radical agenda at work here is Labriola's and those like him. Our families deserve respect and equality, something I am proud of Oakland Park for moving to do. Making people like Labriola lose their minds over it is just a icing on the bigoted cake.

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Actually- he was kicked out of the Democratic Party (it's on his website and a quick google search of his name will reveal the story) and on the front page of his website he proudly proclaims his regular participation in weekly tea party sign holding protests on the streets of Fort Lauderdale (there's a group that hangs out with signs on the corner yelling at cars). His words- he's a tea party patriot (although it is eclipsed by his nutty "pray away the recession views).

He's running as a Dem for some unknown reason, but that's certainly in name only (I should have made that more clear in the post). And as for publicity, he was named to a position on the County Education Advisory Board- so he and his extreme views have flown under the radar for too long. The more we can expose his craziness so he never sneaks into another position of power, the better.

"Fringe candidate?" = "Just freakin' NUTS!" Seriously, many of these people are mentally ill with a form of bipolar disorder with its attendant hyperreligiosity. If we could put lithium in the water, like fluoride, much of the nutso religious right would fade away!!

I googled this clown and checked out his website before commenting. I went back to make sure I hadn't overlooked something.He says he's attended two Tea Party rallies. Is that "regular participation?"

He was kicked off the Democratic Executive Committee in Broward County. That's hardly the same thing as being kicked out of the Democratic Party.

I appreciate the fact that you are constantly bringing these things to the attention of the community. However, it has an impact on your credibility if you're digging this deep for perceived threats.

If you wanted to report something interesting, perhaps you could report why this guy is running as a Democrat despite his anti-gay views. Or perhaps you could yourself attend a Tea Party rally and interview participants to find out how they feel about LGBT equality issues. There are a lot of libertarians at those rallies who are more supportive of LGBT equality than some elected South Florida Dems I know.